Milorganite Fertilizer

[kjackson227]

Has anyone ever used this on their lawns? What were the results? Any complaints (outside of smell)? It has a very interesting history to say the least, so I bought a bag this afternoon and I'm anxious to use it.

[Joe Shlabotnik]

1. I've used it before

Years ago I had a few landscaping customers that would request it. It works, but it's no where near as effective as chemical fertilizers. If I recall correctly it had to be applied at 6-8 times/season vs 3 or 4 times of the regular stuff, so it actually gets expensive. It breaks down fast. It's much lower in Nitrogen. It can make the ground feel kind of slimy after years of use. The pellet form stuff's smell is kind of funky, but actually dissipates quickly. Thats about all I remember.

[Denninmi]

2. I used it last year in my garden to repel the deer.

It did work. It is rather smelly.

The vegetables seemed to like it.

And no, I'm not afraid of using it on food crops that are grown up above it, not in close contact -- tomatoes, corn, peppers, that sort of thing. I don't think I'd use it on salad greens, although the EPA has no restrictions on its use for food crops. Frankly, all of the deer poo that I had the prior summer in the garden, when the dumb things were out there grazing and staring at me from 20 feet away, bothered me more in terms of a contamination risk. At least Milorganite is sterilized.

[kjackson227]

3. It bothers me that there's no phosphorus in it...

should that be a concern, also? I went ahead and bought a bag, and I'll be sure and read how often I have to apply it. If it gets too slimey or if I have to reapply too often, then I will have to try another brand.

[Denninmi]

4. Well, that depends on what's already in your soil.

If you have a soil test done, it will tell you the phosphorus level, along with everything else.

My garden has been a garden for so many years, with yearly doses of fertilizer, that it was extremely high in available Phosphorous, so I don't have to add that for several years.

Nothing says you can't buy a separate phosphorous supplement and use it at the same time, like rock phosphate or bone meal.

[kjackson227]

5. Okay, thanks.

I'm going to try this for this year and see how everything goes...

[Worried senior]

6. We use this all the time

it's great for grass and gardens. If you spill it does not burn the grass, it's also more reasonably priced. Don't want to use all those chemicals on my grass, where we live it doesn't matter if there are a few weeds. We have sandy soil so any green is good.